IT TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION IS ENTERING A NEW ERA



The upgrade of IT laboratories in 50 schools in Athens has already been completed. It is the first time that “real” servers have been installed in IT laboratories of primary and secondary education in Greece. And by “real” servers we mean machines that have server specifications.



THE PROBLEM



One of the main problems created with the operation of IT laboratories is the unevenness of the software used, both at the level of end users and at the level of servers (wherever they exist).

This disparity has as its source the following causes:

Lack of funds to upgrade the majority installed software (WINDOWS), which requires the purchase of new versions, due to the fact that old versions are no longer supported

The lack of resources to purchase new software (WINDOWS) to expand working spots or to create new laboratories.

The age of the equipment, which can no longer support the new windows operating systems

The lack of central services in the network of the IT laboratory, resulting in the impossibility of central authentication of users, the impossibility of taking backups, etc.

The above has led to the degradation of the education provided in information technology. Also, the current situation does not allow the application of uniform educational material concerning IT education.



THE SOLUTION



The management method applied was created to serve all IT Labs (student classes) in Schools - Schools of all levels, IT Centers, Liberal Studies Labs, etc.), as well as Businesses or Organizations of any scale and size, that use Local Computer Network (LAN).

The main feature is the installation of a series of applications - network services so that it can serve Clients (terminals - clients), both in a Microsoft Windows environment and in Linux (Debian, Ubuntu).

It installs and configures (initializes) a number of basic network services as well as uniquely creates student and teacher accounts as well as school classes (School Edition) with minimal effort required on the part of the administrator.

The main feature of the method is the ease and speed with which the installation is done by a series of powerful Server services, such as Samba, NIS, NFS, Quota, DHCP, DNS, Router, Proxy, MySQL, Apache, VNC, but also applications, such as iTALC, phpMyAdmin, Clam Antivirus, Joomla and more. Most of the above services have been certified by Canonical for their stable and trouble-free operation in a working environment and are used by all major companies in the Linux field, RedHat, Suse, Canonical, for solutions in mixed environments (Windows – Linux).

All operations are performed centrally, even the installation and configuration of service clients which is done remotely from the server. All associated services are configured and updated uniformly upon any change of any of them. Management is easy, using the guidance of the "smart" guides, both during the installation of the services and during their use. For all the above using a short and efficient selection, the user is not lost in options, commands and menus that should have been memorized.

The management method in its version is oriented towards the management of an educational laboratory. Organizes users into teachers and students. It installs and configures the iTalc application automatically on Windows and Linux clients, always centrally from the server. It creates a personal web publishing space and installs Joomla, to any user for Web Design courses.

With the method applied, the full utilization of the existing hardware is achieved, regardless of age and computing power.

 

 

THE RESULT


With the implementation of the management method in schools, we now have IT laboratories with the following characteristics:

-They are fully functional, although using obsolete existing equipment.

-They run simultaneously on WINDOWS 10 and Lubuntu workstations

-They provide the possibility of remote management to the teachers who are responsible for their operation

-They provide remote access to students.

-They simplify the operation and maintenance of the computer lab by the teacher, since every change is applied simultaneously to all operating systems.

-They provide access to the children's use of the internet with absolute security and content control by the teacher

-They provide the possibility for each student to have his personal space on the server disk with his personal files

-They make use of the content contained in the repository of free educational software developed by the central government for educational purposes

-They provide absolute data security with centralized backup download, both of user data and of installed operating systems

-They provide the possibility of minimizing the use of printing paper, due to the fact that they can now circulate the teaching material electronically

- They are 100% remotely maintained and serviced, minimizing the need of unnecessary on-site visits of technicians.